Top 5 Disney princesses

In 1937, the Walt Disney Animation Studios released its first fully animated feature film, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, which brought Disney’s first princess to life and pioneered a new form of family entertainment. More than seven decades later, the studio continues to honour its heritage with the all-new animated feature The Princess And The Frog, in cinemas on 5th March 2010.

> Watch the trailer.

Disney’s latest adventure puts a modern twist on a classic tale, featuring a beautiful girl named Tiana, a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again, and a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through New Orleans and the mystical bayous of Louisiana.

To celebrate the release, we count down Disney’s five greatest princess characters...


SNOW WHITE
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)

A princess of noble birth, Snow White is forced into rags as a scullery maid by her jealous stepmother, the Queen. Blessed with an innocent's indomitable spirit, the fair maiden never loses faith that one day the wishing well will grant her wish for a true love to come and take her away. When her dream is answered by a serenading young prince, the evil Queen orders Snow White killed.

Faced with the girl's innocence, the huntsman assassin can't kill her, and begs her to flee deep into the forest, never to return. Once again her innocence saves her as the forest animals lead her to the Seven Dwarfs' cottage, where she takes the role of their adopted mother. The Queen, however, will use the girl's naiveté against her as she dons the guise of a helpless peddler hag to lure Snow White into taking a bite from a poisoned apple. Falling into a sleeping death, Snow White can only be awakened by love's first kiss.


CINDERELLA
Cinderlla (1950)

Everyone orders Cinderella around, but no matter how much her family abuses and humiliates her, they can't stop her from dreaming. For dreams are the wishes of Cinderella's heart, and, despite her sadness and hardships, she has faith that someday her wishes of happiness will come true.

When the invitation to the royal ball arrives, Cinderella is sure her time has come - until the evil sisters, with the sly encouragement of Lady Tremaine, tear not only her gown to shreds, but her hopes and dreams as well. "There's nothing left to believe in," she cries, heartbroken. However, though her own words are forgotten for the moment, they still hold the magic that will fulfil her hopes.

With the help of a bit of magic from her fairy godmother, Cinderella attends the royal ball. Fleeing the ball at midnight, when the magic spell is due to end, she leaves behind a glass slipper that the prince and grand duke use to search her out. With the help of her little mouse and bird friends, she is discovered and assured a happy future.


AURORA
Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Betrothed at birth to Prince Phillip, the infant Aurora is blessed with the gifts of beauty and song by the good fairies of the kingdom. However, fate's icy hand brings an uninvited guest to the christening and the evil fairy Maleficent curses the child to die by the prick of a spinning wheel's spindle before her 16th birthday. Struggling to prevent this catastrophe, the good fairies hide the princess in a secluded cottage in the glen.

The years pass and Aurora blossoms into a lovely but lonely young woman unaware of her real name and birthright. Playacting with the forest animals at what it might be like to meet a prince, Princess Aurora, now called "Briar Rose," meets a very real "peasant boy." Although neither of them knows who the other is, the couple falls in love at first sight. When the good fairies reveal Princess Aurora's birthright to her, instead of joy, an awful sadness comes over her. For she believes she must sacrifice her true love to the "right and royal duty" of marrying Prince Phillip, a stranger. Just as she's about to discover that the two are one and the same, she's stricken by Maleficent's terrible curse. All seems lost but for one glimmer of hope... only true love's kiss can wake this sleeping beauty from an eternal slumber.


BELLE
Beauty And The Beast (1991)

Far-off places, daring sword fights... a prince in disguise... Belle longs for so much more than a "normal life" in this small, provincial town - a town where girls don't aspire to more than being the wife of a handsome hunk like Gaston. Still, adventure is the last thing on her mind when she rides her horse, Philippe, into the forest to find her beloved father, who is missing.

Thinking only of her father, she makes a terrible bargain with a pitiless monster, a beast who holds her father captive. "Take me instead ..." Though the Beast now holds the key to Belle's prison, he doesn't have the key to her heart, and her yearning spirit won't be kept prisoner. But after he risks his own life to save hers, she begins to see past his hideous appearance. She realises that, deep inside him, there might be something more than she - or he - had ever dreamed.


TIANA
The Princess And The Frog (2010)

Tiana, certainly not the typical fairy tale princess, is the latest addition to the group of Disney’s princesses. Her daydreams are not of far away kingdoms or castles in the clouds, but of personal success and a thriving restaurant business.

She is an attractive and independent African-American woman, hardworking and strong-willed, but still a loving and loyal friend and a compassionate soul. She treasures her mother and holds her father near and dear to her heart, and although she knows the way won’t be easy, believes that anyone can achieve their ambitions.